Partnership cemented by leaders staying in touch

That President Xi Jinping and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron talked by telephone on Monday underscores the significance that the two heads of state attach to the traditional Sino-French friendship and their resolve to lift that mutually beneficial relationship to a new level.

During their conversation, they not only talked about practical cooperation between the two countries in areas such as trade and investment, and people-to-people exchanges, but also how to strengthen their collaboration in the United Nations and other multilateral institutions so as to improve global governance. Xi assured Macron that China is ready to work with France to jointly address global challenges such as climate change, and he expressed the hope that France will play a constructive role in promoting the positive development of China-European Union relations.

Their frank exchanges were the latest evidence of the close communication the two top leaders have maintained over the past several years, which has injected a positive momentum into the China-France relationship and enabled bilateral cooperation to make new achievements, despite the headwinds that have built up in Europe.